Projecting space into the future: peripersonal space remaps in anticipation of an object manipulation

Anna Belardinelli, University of Tübingen

Johannes Lohmann, University of Tübingen

Martin Butz, University of Tübingen

Abstract

Manipulation planning relies on anticipatory processes, aimed at
achieving the desired goal state, such as a grasp. This implies that peripersonal
space is remapped to the anticipated grasp posture on the targeted object.
Vibrotactile-visual interactions were probed at different times during a
grasp-and-place task. Thumb or index finger were stimulated concurrently with a
visual distractor on the to-be-grasped object. Object orientation (upright/upside
down) afforded a thumb-up or thumb-down grasp, inverting the congruency between
haptic and visual stimulation. Response times about which finger was stimulated
show the expected crossmodal congruency effect already before motion onset, with
shorter times when the visual distractor and the future position of the
stimulated finger overlapped. Moreover, eye-tracking data show that the tactile
stimulation influences the gaze in anticipation of the upcoming grasp. Thus
peripersonal hand space is mapped into the future, predictively mediating between
tactile and visual perceptions as a function of the final state.